CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Moving to above-ground Sx Sealing

Stefaan Gouhie

CSI Ametek+33 6 70 61 73 28

Stefaan.gouhie@ametek.com

SxSeal 2000

™

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Sulfur Sealing in the SRU

Maintain bulk temperature

Maintain wall temperature

Sulfur

Seal

Sulfur

Seal

Sulfur

Seal

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Traditional solution: Seal leg

– 20+ ft. below-grade

sulfur seal

– Jacketed piping

heating technology

• Sealing mechanism

operates on

hydrostatic pressure

• Liquid sulfur creates a

vapor seal

Liquid sulfur

Liquid sulfur

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Seal leg - Benefits

• Supplemental pressure

relief

• Long maintenance

interval

Liquid sulfur

Liquid sulfur

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Seal leg: Prone to plugging

• Debris collects at the

bottom of the seal leg

• Plugging can also

occur at startup

• Costly maintenance

X

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Seal leg: Other potential issues

• Ground-water intrusion

• What happens if plant wants to increase pressure?

• Operation status confirmed via look box

• Crane needed for installation and removal

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Look Box Safety

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Seal Leg Safety

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Seal Leg Safety

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Safety Issues Seal Leg

• Exposure to H2S vapors

• Burns from liquid sulphur

• Mess created in SRU

• How Serious?

– “This area is the most dangerous in the SRU”

• 40 Year SRU Veteran, Brimstone Vail 2013

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Sulfur sealing optionsIn-ground

Above-ground

1000

Seal Leg

2000

SxSeal ™

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

No-flow condition

H2S

Sx Vapor

Liquid

sulfur

SxSeal 1000 in operation

Liquid sulfur

™

H2S

Sx Vapor

Liquid

sulfur

Flowing condition

Liquid sulfur

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Requires regular maintenance

• Need for fresh air suit?

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Safety Issues SxSeal 1000

• Regular Maintenance

• Exposure to H2S vapors

• Exposure to liquid Sulphur

• No pressure relief path

– Rupture disk

• Still need for lookbox

H2S

Sx Vapor

Liquid

sulfur

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

SxSeal 2000

™

• Best of both

worlds in sulfur

sealing technology

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

SxSeal 2000 in operation

™

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Construction and Components

Orifice plate

Plug

Orifice

Lift Handles

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Operating status indicators

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Operating status indicators

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Low maintenance

• Debris can be

cleared during

turnaround.

• Built-in clean out

facilitates quick,

easy maintenance.

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Easy retrofit

• Minimal elevation difference between inlet & outlet

• Facilitates retrofit

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Heated with ControTrace

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Summary of benefits

• Safe, visual confirmation of

performance – no look box

required

• No filter maintenance

• Online cleaning possible

• No water intrusion, cross-

contamination, or plugging

• Supplemental relief path

SxSeal 2000™

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE™

SxSeal 2000 – 200+ in operation

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

26

Video

CLEAR VISION │ SOUND STRATEGIES │ SOLID PERFORMANCE

Questions?